The commodity-sensitive Canadian dollar was well off session lows at mid-afternoon, down 0.06 of a cent to 90.01 cents US.

U.S. indexes were mainly lower as the Dow Jones industrials lost 21.72 points to 16,329.53, the Nasdaq was up 11.71 points at 4,318.9 and the S&P 500 index backed off 1.4 points to 1,866.23.

Despite the gain, the TSX has been pressured by energy and base metal stocks amid worries about Chinese growth.

Data released over the weekend showed that the world’s second-biggest economy experienced an 18 per cent drop in exports in February. That data had followed news last week that Chinese authorities had given the go-ahead for the country’s first credit default.

Copper, viewed as an economic barometer as it is used in so many applications, has tumbled in recent days to the lowest level since mid-2010, having fallen 8.3 per cent over the last three sessions.

“China growth fears dominate sentiment and continue to fuel a sell-off in copper and commodity linked currencies,” said a commentary from Barclays Research.

“Fears following the first onshore credit default have led to speculation that further defaults may unlock copper from financing deals and fuel further selling.”

The TSX base metals sector was down 0.73 per cent as the May copper contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange shed early losses and climbed a penny to US$2.96 a pound with some analysts thinking the reaction to the China news has been overdone.

“Somewhere along the way, (China) has to slow down a little bit,” said Fred Ketchen, a manager of equity trading at ScotiaMcLeod.

“But it’s not going to be the end of the world. Markets will always overdo it on the upside and they’ll always overdo it on the downside.”

The energy sector shed 0.6 per cent as demand concerns have steadily pushed prices lower this week and the April contract in New York was down another $2.12 to US$97.91 after losing about $2.50 over the previous two sessions.

TSX losses were limited by a 2.5 per cent jump in the gold sector as worries about China, along with Ukraine tensions, pushed bullion prices higher with the May contract ahead $23.80 to US$1,370.50 an ounce.

The U.S. Senate has prepared legislation that would impose economic penalties on Russian officials complicit in Ukrainian corruption or anyone responsible for Moscow’s military takeover of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula.

The industrials component also provided lift to the TSX, up 1.23 per cent.

In the U.S. shares in nutritional supplement company Herbalife tumbled 8.2 per cent to US$60.03 after the Federal Trade Commission opened an investigation into the company.

Word of the investigation came a day after hedge fund manager William Ackman renewed his attacks on the company. Ackman has repeatedly bet against the company, saying he believes it operates as a pyramid scheme.